A Sunny Place For Shady People
by Lady Narcissa Black Malfoy
Summary: NEW CHAPTER UP! Post HBP: not your usual fanfic since features the pureblood cousins. Full Summary under Ch1! DMHG & DMGW P Curious twists of fate... hehehe
1. WORDS TO THE WISE

**A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE ****_1: WORDS TO THE WISE_ **

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**DISCLAIMER / FORWARD / SUMMARY:**

I do not own any of the familiar characters, although I am one ;P Isee no need to alter the characters' temperaments since JKR's genius should NOT (in my humble opinion) be undervalued. Since my story begins after Dumbledore's funeral, I chose the train home for the opening chapter. If you enjoy reading my fic, then this introduction page should be where you check for updates. I won't torture you by "updating" with A/Ns… it's just unfair and drives me MAD when my favorite fics are interrupted in such a manner!

This is post-HBP at the end of that school year. This is only an introduction so please be kind to me! I gave up the first fic I tried 3 years ago because of flamers – don't like it, don't review it! I want reviews from people interested in the story: and I read them to make it more enjoyable for my readers. If that isn't you then trot along :P This introductory 'Words to the Wise' isn't part of the story so feel free to skip ahead if you're just here to enjoy a bit of reading.This is going to be quite a long fanfic so if you're planning on reading all the way through, this is the page to come back to.

I've had this story outlined for the past few years, so I'm going to keep my format of shorter chapters and update them more often. The main Draco ? ship is up in the air plot wise, which includes both DMHG and DMGW episodes here but you're going to have to read on to see which way it swings. If you have preference over one or the other, let me know in your reviews because I'm happy writing any Draco/some-girl-or-other ship so your votes count.

I'm new at this so any suggestions and/or requests left in reviews will be considered, and where the plot allows, I WILL include them :D so don't be shy (but please be polite!) That aside, please pardon my opening chapter since it leans heavily on description rather than dialogue. This in a necessary evil 1. because it happens to be my style of writing, 2. so that my readers will be familiar with the rhythm and paste when I complete the more dense and dramatic sequences, and 3. because I have a very dry sense of humor so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Now on with our story! And it IS "ours" since I'm hoping for lots of requests via reviews! wink-wink, nudge-nudge

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **

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**Ch.5** Ok, so I didn't make you post the reviews before putting up the next chapter but unless people start reviewing this story, I'm going to give it up… the whole fun of writing fanfiction is for other people to read it and while I love my outline for this, I'm feeling a little discouraged dear readers. I know that these first few chapters are light on the dialogue and neither Ginny or Hermione have been around much but this is all very important for later on :D Also a great big hug goes out to LadyOlivia who was the first to review this fic & has done so every chapter so far... If you're looking for a better story than mine, go read her fic "The Depths of Remorse" - hard to believe this girl is still at college! (That's High School for the Americans.) NOW GO REVIEW YOU LOT! Since LadyOlivia is a Draco/Hermione shipper, she is the one pulling the heartstrings in my plot right now so I guess all the Fire&Icers are missing from the world of fanfiction these days ;P

**Ch.4** So sorry my darling readers! I have been in & out of hospital all week and so have on just been able to work at my own computer. PLEASE read and review! I know you are all reading my story and I REFUSE to post either of the next two chapters unless I have at LEAST 10 reviews (and I mean proper ones, not 'cool' or 'yuck' so go give me feedback.) One of the added benefits of reviewing my fic is that I am VERY good at giving reviews myself. Wish me luck for Monday and if you are good little readers and submit the reviews before the weekend, I MAY just decide to post BOTH chapters 5 & 6 by Sunday! Love, M

**Ch.4** So I'm in New York City now and I have surgery on Monday – I'm sorry it took a week to get Ch. 4 up but on the bright side, I have 5 & 6 totally edited and ready to post but I AM NOT SHARING UNTIL MY READERS START REVIEWING THE STORY :P You have ALL been warned… now trot along and go enjoy the completed ch. 4 since you've been lurking (rather than reviewing) for a whole seven days :P xxxxxxx

**Ch.3** My VAIO crashed, so it will take me a little longer to post CH. 4 – I leave London for NYC tomorrow so, the post will come on Monday. Wish me luck for surgery! Oh, and I've moved that fic I started back in 2003 onto this account so I don't have to juggle! Hopefully that will keep you amused for now! Xxxxxxx

**Ch.3** I've done a massive re-write of the first chapters since I finally dug up the original outline I had for the trilogy that this fic begins. That said, I have a poem for you…

So much of this chapter is new,

So it's only fair that you REVIEW!

wink-wink, nudge-nudge

**Ch.2** As you see I have done a MAJOR update of this story so please read and review. As stated before, I want reviews reviews reviews from you all! Also, PLEASE check out the brilliant stories on my favorites list because they are amazing and I like to promote the writers who gave me the courage to try this fan-fic thing again. Please? I know you're reading the story so please REVIEW! wink-wink, nudge-nudge


	2. TEMPER, TEMPER

**2. TEMPER, TEMPER**

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Draco Malfoy was in a temper.

Not a fierce temper, but that melancholy mood that had plagued him since he began his time at Hogwarts. But that was all over now… and with Dumbledore gone, he would never redeem himself to that band of happy children he had tormented since that first train ride six years ago.

_NOT, _he grumbled, _that I would want that!_ But still… it appealed to that unspeakable loneliness.

He had offered Potter his friendship with an eye to outshine his father's ambitions for his son to follow in what Draco knew to be very dark footsteps. It wasn't something that was spoken of during his childhood, but children, especially wizard children, are very _very_ perceptive creatures.

Draco resented his power – it made his life boring but still defined part of where he came from… it still shaped, in many ways, Draco himself. Beyond his power, Draco also resented his blood – he took fierce pride in being pureblood but the power of being a Malfoy _within_ the community meant that he was supposed to set an example and rally the other old wizarding families.

Hogwarts was peppered with his cousins – many of whom were distant, like the Weasleys, but Draco loathed the freedom this gave them more than anything else. That, and the fact that the Weasley children in particular had outshone him during most of his time at school.

Even those with whom he had spent the last six years as a Slytherin drove him mad more often than not. But it seemed that even his own blood, like Luna Lovegood, fell in step with Potter after three years.

_Three bloody years nobody talked to her but ME… and Blaise here and there, but I was her friend before Potter knew her NAME! _Draco's thoughts became such an unintelligible stew of rage, guilt, and self-pity that he half-expected some ghastly act of uncontrolled magic.

He looked over the side of his bed, half willing _something_ to happen and saw the uninspiring sight of Pansy's rear stuck in the air as she crouched on all fours to fish out a lipgloss from under his high-boy.

BANGthud went his trunk, right down on Pansy Parkinson's bum, flattening her to the ground. She shriek, he cackled, Blaise bellowed that they were BOTH crackers, and then Draco fell off the bed. Zabini snickered and Pansy started cooing and looked on the verge of tears.

He sighed and barked for Pansy to get OUT of his bathroom and stop fussing. Whatever had prompted his mother to insist these simpering tarts come over for his birthday he felt he would never understand.

_Sadistic! There could be no other reason than that she likes to watch me squirm!_

Draco knew this to be both untrue and unjust but he was in a temper – and a Malfoy in a temper is a nasty beast to encounter. Instead he resigned himself to summoning Dobby, having his owl brought from the owlery, and her cage and his trunks taken down to the train. It would, he believed, be the last time he boarded the Hogwarts Express. He just needed to do so without coming to the attention of a one Harry Potter.

He dropped a slightly shaking hand down into his pocket and pulled out the two-way mirror, which snickered at his apprehension. So Blaise knew the coast was clear. Now where the DEVIL had that whirling dervish of a girl run off to?

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**Check _'WORDS TO THE WISE'_ for updated A/Ns**


	3. THE LAST TRAIN

**3. THE LAST TRAIN**

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He dejectedly climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express and took a seat, feeling the fear fan out from his compartment. Blaise slunk in and wordlessly nodded a hello. That was the thing with Blaise… just when Draco started to wallow in self-pity for a burden he hadn't wanted and couldn't fulfill; there was Zabini – in the same situation asking for no pity at all. _Small miracles _Draco mused, and straighted up just the same… he never was one to be outdone by one of his cousins.

"Hmm… odd, THAT," came a voice from the luggage rack Blaise shot out of his seat just as the train lurched and went flying out into the corridor under, landing tangled on top of the sweets trolly to the amusement of some second year Ravenclaws – Second Years who paid for their snickering by breaking into an Irish jig and dancing off down the train with their robes suspended above their ears.

As Blaise sat snickering on the tea trolly, the Voice poked her nose over the bars and murmered "Odd, that THAT was how you and Harry became enemies… your envy of all us cousins." Before Draco could reply, Zabini flung open the glass and barged into the compartment in full fury.

"What in the name of Merlin," he fumed at Draco, slamming the door behind him, "are you on about!"

Draco dropped the top half of his Daily Profet to arch an eyebrow and look pointedly above Blaise's seat. Whisps of violet-white blonde hair were swaying to the rhythm of the train. _LUNA! _Draco and Blaise shared a momentary look and then pointed their wants at an odd parcel nestled amidst Zabini's trunks.

Luna Lovegood's hair parted itself down the middle – half rapped around the rack above Blaise's head and POOF the other half wove itself into the bars supporting Draco's trunks and owl cage, leaving the dreamy-eyed girl suspended in midair. Neither boy said anything; Luna quite happily jostled to and fro with the movement of the train, from time to time she amused herself by pulling grotesque faces at traumatized students who raced past their carriage.

"Luna," Blaise commanded just as they pulled into Kings Cross Station, "what was the meaning of 'Odd, THAT…' since you never finished?"

Luna didn't answer. Instead she smiled patiently at her cousins and pulled out her wand. Orange sparks exploded into the room and stuck to Draco's eyelashes. Luna pulled down her trunk which still had the ostrich's beak and spurred feet attached, and skipped down onto the platform, vanishing into the crowd.

Blaise only sneezed and read the glittering lettering off the door, "Nothing that is God's is obtainable by money. – Tertullian"

Whatever message the ostrich-toting nutter was trying to convey, they certainly weren't going to sort out with an austere Narcissa waiting for them in this heat. Sneezing, they slunk off the train, with orange hair and sparkles in their eyebrows to meet the beautiful, if bewildered, witch.

"What do you wager the Dark Lord and this Tertullian have never had a meaningful chat," snickered Blaise, eyeing Ginny Weasley and her family clamoring into a dusty ministry lorry, carefully ignoring Pansy who was now attached to his right arm, dusting the glitter out of his hair.

Narcissa had, at this point, latched onto her son's waste and was shaking in her failed attempts to hide both her tears and her relief. Draco followed his gaze over his mother's heaving shoulders and leered suggestively at the muggle-loving ginger girl.

"Nothing that in anyways involves money, Blaise… besides, Luna has a point – no amount of money could have bought the demigod status _we_ had at Hogwarts." He winked at Granger, who got all wound-up and rounded on Potter and Weasel.

Both boys turn to comfort Narcissa, who was close to hysterics now that she had her god-son and child standing before her. But pity and compassion are _not_ traits that a Malfoy is accustomed to so she briskly snapped her fingers and two house elves collected the trunks and vanished with small pops.

"Such a lovely day, don't you agree Draco?" Blaise drawled, glossing over his god-mother's tetchy state.

"Oh, undoubtedly, Blaise," Draco replied in a pompous, mocking tone.

The young Zabini snatched the Daily profit from his cousin's pocket and swatted him upside the head behind Narcissa's back. Draco snatched at his wand and gave Blaise a murderous look – but catching his cousin's eye _finally _understood the formalities…

"Mother," Draco began, "Blaise is thursty and would like to fine a place to rest and have a drink… they serve little better than sawdust and rubber on the tea trolly on _that_ old train!"

He threw up his hands at Blaise, who simply shook his head resignedly. It was not the ideal invitation for Narcissa to remove them from the watchful eyes of the ministry, but it would have to do for now.

_Impossible, self-aggrandizing wanker, _Blaise sighed inwardly,_ When WILL he learn! And why… wait a moment!_ Blaise looked down at his numb and tingling arm.

"PANSY!" he bellowed, "I can't feel my bloody arm! Let GO of it… now!" Zabini let out a low hiss as the blood surged back into his arm. Pansy stalked off, followed by Luna, who amused herself by charming the Slytherin princess's overly volumised hair into rude and bizarre shapes.

Draco just snickered as the man-servant readied the muggle money and they each slid through the barrier, to Kings Cross Station, one by one. _This might well turn out to be one hell of a summer; _Blaise shuddered.

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**Check _'WORDS TO THE WISE'_ for updated A/Ns**


	4. NELL GWYNN HOUSE

**3. NELL GWYNN HOUSE**

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The man-servant, slunk along in front of them and hailed a black cab. After giving the man directions and fifty pounds sterling, he bowed, or rather crouched, before Narcissa, and wandered off.

'_Squibs,'_ Draco sneered inwardly and then sat back in the uncomfortable taxi as it drove them along Kings Road and into the heart of Chelsea. It pulled up outside what muggles would have thought of as a 1930's art-deco building complete with a crescent marble-laid entrance. Above the white marbled awning stood a statue of Nell Gwynn herself, and it was HER that they were here to see.

Eleanor Gwynne, born in 1650, she had been a particularly powerful witch in her day and one of the first dark witches to have an open affair with a muggle. Naturally, as the long-standing mistress of King Charles II in a time when magic was by and large isolated to pure bloods, she was unusually powerful in both worlds. After her death at the age of thirty seven, her ghost had taken to haunting various buildings throughout Chelsea.

Narcissa, in particular, sought her advice from the time of her engagement to Lucius, and much preferred the grand marble entrance to the Nell Gwynn house to the pokey and cramped accommodations that were offered at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Eleanor haunts this building because of how the Shurffle-Hopkinnics spelled her name," Luna informed a tall vapid looking blonde sitting in the foyer.

Draco gave the woman an apologetic nod and walked over and taking Luna by the elbow, marched her unceremoniously up to suite number 636 where she happily began crossing wires in the muggle eclectircitaly (or whatever the wretched) system was called.

Draco felt his pocket grow hot, and pulled out the mirror, which reflected Blaise's tanned face, rather than his own, fair features. Zabini's sneer in miniature had the unnerving effect of making his eyes appear even more slanted than usual.

"WHAT," hissed Draco as he stalked down the hall away from Luna's room and the memory that they had so recently fought opposite to one another.

"Just thought you'd like to know that Flint just escorted in a few of the Gryffs who look surprisingly tame… more than usual, that is," Zabini added as a nasty afterthought and snickered at his own cruel wit.

The young Malfoy's eyes flashed with something unrecognizable before he slipped the mirror into his pocket, giving Blaise nothing more than a view of a Drooble's gum wrapper and the tip of a broken quill. Zabini, having lost sight of Narcissa, who had fallen deep into conversation with Eleanor's ghost, ducked into the men's loo to wait for his fellow Slytherin.

Draco quickened his pace down to the dungeons to meet his mother and Zabini, passing the blonde woman that Luna had alarmed. Taking careful pains to _not_ meet her stare he marched purposefully past the insipid woman and ducked into the WC. He watched her pass through a small crack in the wooden door. Exhaling for the first time since he put away the two way mirror, he backed up and trod sharply on Zabini's toes.

"What the BLOODY hell was THAT for," roared Blaise as Draco spun around and promptly hexed him, glueing his cousin's tongue to the roof of his mouth.

"Shut is Zabini! Do you WANT my mum to hear you, or would you like for US to hear what it is that SHE has to say?" Draco gave him a withering look and Blaise could do little but scowl back. Both boys were so busy glowering at one another that they failed to notice the soft humming of Luna until she was standing between them with a look of absentminded amusement on her face.

Blaise tried to bark at her which resulted in a fabulous (although soundless) impersonation of a seal. Luna giggled and performed the countercurse wordlessly which cought both boys off-guard. Blaise had simply begun vocalizing every thought that came into his head and Draco, at who Luna had unintentionally been pointing a finger at Draco who bit his lip sharply and gasped.

Stomping his foot in fury, pain, and sheer determination to one-up Blaise, Draco pounded the slated floor until the pain had subsided and a small _whoosh_ came from an archway that had folded up into the mirror. Without so much as batting an eyelash, Luna climbed up onto the sink and crouched in the opening and slid out of sight… leaving two perplexed Slytherin boys in her wake.

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**Check _'WORDS TO THE WISE'_ for updated A/Ns**


	5. WARTY BAT POX

**4. WARTY BAT POX**

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"Small miracles," muttered Blaise as he smartly stomped on Draco's toes, causing the mirror to replace the archway Luna had suddenly vanished into, and wisked out the lavratory door. Draco cursed passionately and began hopping about on the tile while holding his aching foot – the mirrored archway kept shifting with each bounce and he was certain that he heard Luna giggling.

Spinning around, he caught her sitting with her feet in the sink looking cheerfully at him. He opened his mouth but snapped it shut when he saw the ghost of Lady Gwynn gliding through the door – a sure sign that Narcissa would follow shortly.

"Luna, where does that lead?" Draco demanded, more out of habit than out of malice. Luna politely ignored him and began cutting letters out of the Quibbler's cover story and charming them onto the ground below the sink. Knowing a lost battle when he saw one, Draco rolled his eyes and slouched against the pillar to wait for his mother. Lady Gwynn seemed slightly startled by the odd behavior on display but her breeding and manners had not decayed with her mortal body!

After idly scanning the loo for what felt like an eternity of boredom, Draco spun his head around to notice that Luna had vanished. Checking that neither Blaise nor Narcissa had yet arrived, he crouched down halfway under the sink to make out Luna's collage message:

_I shall be in my room, performing experiments on the mystical properties of shampoo – I expect such a name shall be interesting to Fred and George. Perhaps they will name a product after you in thanks to me. Be careful of the magpie in the second Floo Fireplace in the front hall… it would love to see you. This place was once good but is tainted by dark magic in the form of WartyBatPox! _

Draco rolled his eyes and sat up, smashing the bottom of the sink with his head and fell back on his rear. The sink let out a howl about inconsiderate patrons and sent a stream of icy water directly into Draco's face. '_Just my luck… Mother's here' _he mused as a supremely disdainful Narcissa looked archly down at her dripping son and then sharply at the snickering Blaise over her shoulder.

"I shall expect you both by the Floo Fireplaces in an hour. Until then, the Lady Gwynn must see to your cousin," Narcissa commanded as she swept regally from the room. "Oh, and Blaise," she called over her shoulder, "Pansy is coming down the hall just now… so read whatever it is and remove yourselves please."

Zabini leaned down to take a look at Luna's message and then with one jab and flick of his wand "Evanesco!" he said as the sink launched its second attack just as Pansy opened the door, shrieking above the present chaos.

"BOTH OF YOU ---- DRY ---- HOGWARTS LETTERS ---- GOING BACK ---- HURRY!" Was all that she managed to bellow before seizing them both by the collars, stomping on the slate where Luna's note had vanished only moments before, and dragging them through the archway where she let go of there collars and slid out of sight.

Draco and Blaise were quickly becoming more and more tangled as they tried to push off each other in the narrowing shoot. Blaise thought that this was how a champagne cork must feel… the nozzle is too small unless there is enough pressure behind it – and magical travel has a habit of pulling and pushing wizards in the most uncomfortable of ways. Eventually, the tangled mass of Slytherin robes landed heavily on the floor of Luna's bedroom.

Luna was possibly the only student in Hogwarts who would not have wet herself at the sight of those particular boys in such an awkward situation – and Pansy was too busy waving their letters under their noses to take the Mickey out of them just then. Keeping her voice in a low wisper so as not to disturb what sounded like Narcissa and a few guests in the sitting room, Pansy charmed their robes dry and shoved the Hogwarts envelopes into their hands.

"Draco, we're all going back next year… McGonagall is in the other room with your mother and that werewolf as we speak!" With this Pansy launched herself into Blaise's arms who couldn't quite understand the desperation of her excitement. He searched Draco's face for an explanation but his cousin kept his face perfectly neutral but tipping out his envelope, looked peaky and near fainting.

"I'm Head Boy…" he murmured looking up at Pansy in panic. Then with his smirk carefully in place, he leered at his housemates and flashed his pin in their faces. Blaise took this as the rationalization for his girlfriend's rabid reaction to news from Hogwarts and only Luna was eyeing Draco with a serene and knowing expression.

"She is _not_ going to be happy that it is _you_, you know." Draco stared at her numbly until one name flashed in his mind… _'Oh bloody hell… no, it wouldn't be possible… Potter surely would have told her… but who else would it be – oh beastly Merlin, I bet she means Granger!' _As if in tune with his every thought, Luna nodded apologetically and flopped down on her bed next to him.

"You could always curse yourself with WartyBatPox… then you'd have to be in quarantine in St. Mungo's." Draco gave her a withering glare in return for this suggestion but began to wonder exactly how horrible WartyBatPox could possibly be.

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Check 'Words to the Wise' for updated A/N and some important info on this story :D xx Lady Narcissa Black Malfoy 


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